Scars of the World.
In the Ghost Mountains, within a cave at the foot of one of the mountains, Alka and his companions rested.
Leaning against the edge of the cave, Alka sat on his sleeping bag, looking at the map in his hand.
He had already marked all the blue dots on the map, and among them were the points of the elemental cores left behind by the half-elemental creatures of the Stonehoof Clan after their death. There were four in total.
This was different from the three the elder had mentioned; there was clearly one more.
"You've been looking at this map. Is there something wrong?" Sofia asked Alka from her seat.
Hearing this, Alka looked up at her and said, "There's something different. I detect the aura of four elemental cores on the map, not the three the elder mentioned. What's wrong?"
"One more is normal. Maybe he just knew these three were dead. Or maybe he still believes the other one is alive," Pororo said from the side.
Julia shook her head upon hearing this. "No, it shouldn't be like that.
The remaining population of their race is too small. You should all have seen it: only a few hundred.
As one of the leaders of the race, it's impossible for this elder to have miscounted the number of people, right?
Every member of the tribe is extremely precious. Losing even one could be a devastating loss."
Alka nodded. This was his thought.
How could a member of the tribe die in this situation and he not know about it?
This possibility only occurs when there are too many people in the tribe.
It's like a village where everyone knows each other as neighbors. If someone suddenly disappears, how could everyone be unaware of it?
"There are so many unexpected situations. We don't know much about this tribe, do we?" Sofia said nearby.
Several people nodded. Indeed, it was true.
As they chatted, the darkness outside dissipated. Light suddenly illuminated the mountains.
Daybreak. "Let's go around and head here," Alka said, tapping the map.
That was the nearest discovered blue point, where the crystal they needed was stored.
Sofia waved his hand gently, and a tiny moon, roughly the size of their heads, appeared above them.
The moon shone with a cool, clear light, just enough to envelop them.
Under the moon, they began their journey.
Without this full moon, they would have been constantly harassed by various evil spirits as they journeyed through the mountains, far more numerous than they had imagined.
Especially those weak, yet annoying, evil spirits, who constantly harassed them.
However, the moon Sofia used was effective in dispelling these evil spirits. Unless they were of a relatively powerful level, they would not dare approach.
Because most of the evil spirits were actually around the second stage, with only a few in the third stage.
It could also be because this was the outer reaches.
The reason evil spirits were so annoying was because it was so difficult to eliminate them.
They could only be dispersed through various means, especially in high-magic areas like the Infinite Sea.
The strength of the evil spirits was much more difficult to eliminate than those Alka and his companions had encountered in the Home Sea.
"Here they come again."
Pororo said irritably, gazing at the blood-red eyes nestled in a piece of rubble.
Hearing Pororo's words, Alka turned his head and glanced at the corner where the blood-red eyes were located.
"What are you staring at? Come and bite me if you dare."
"Hiss!"
The evil spirit, hiding in the dark corner, roared menacingly, but did not rush out despite Alka's words.
"It seems these evil spirits still possess even the most basic intelligence," Alka said, looking at the evil spirit.
They were afraid of the moonlight, filled with dread.
Besides this one, Alka saw another one nestled in a crevice of rubble not far away. This one was much bolder.
In the sunlight, it almost poked its head out, its enormous mouth open, filled with sharp teeth.
Paired with its childlike face, it looked incredibly terrifying.
"I recognize this one," Lucelia said, seeing the evil spirit staring at them from a distance.
Hearing this, Alka blinked at the evil spirit. The evil spirit's strength was around the third level.
"I killed it before," Lucelia said, and a blood-colored flying blade appeared in her hand, which she swung out.
Upon seeing the blood-red blade, the evil spirit immediately dissipated and vanished.
Clearly, it recognized the attack.
"It seems these evil spirits aren't so easy to eliminate. Is it because of the environment here?" Sofia couldn't help but ask.
As they advanced, more and more evil spirits were observing them from every corner. He also spotted one or two of the evil spirits he had killed yesterday.
If these evil spirits looked different, they must be the same one from yesterday, now resurrected. Remember, they specifically used the power of the Virgin Mary to eliminate these evil spirits.
The Virgin Mary's power was incredibly effective against these evil spirits.
There shouldn't be any chance they couldn't be completely eliminated.
"So this area has been left here because these evil spirits are so difficult to eliminate," Alka said.
After all, this place was considered the rear, not too far from the front lines and the various safe roads.
If these evil spirits were truly unstable, they would have been eliminated long ago. The reason they've persisted until now is likely due to either their difficulty in extermination or their inability to leave the mountains.
Compared to the demons on the front lines, such a threat is naturally insignificant, requiring no additional effort or manpower to eliminate.
After all, with the demons on the front lines, humans simply don't have the energy to devote to such tasks.
A brown earth token floated beside Alka, through which he sensed the elemental crystals.
Soon, under the moonlight and amidst the gazes of countless evil spirits, they arrived at that area.
A stone pillar could be seen in the distance.
The pillar rose from the barren ground, approximately seven or eight meters tall, its material different from the surrounding ground.
Through the earth token, Alka could clearly sense the high-energy earth elemental crystals within the pillar.
According to the map's orientation, this should be the blue dot.
As Alka and the others approached, a demonic spirit emerged from the stone pillar. Its form was unnerving.
It resembled a snake, its tongue a twisted human face, and even its body was covered with various human heads.
It coiled around the stone pillar, roaring at Alka and the others as they approached, each head emitting a shrill, varying pitched laugh.
"This demonic spirit...is so disgusting," Pororo said with a frown.
He couldn't help but wipe his arm, his skin breaking out in goosebumps.
Alka saw that the demonic spirit was at the third stage of strength.
The difficulty level was the same as the one he had observed at the point.
"Let's just walk over and see if our arrival forces it to leave," Alka said, and together they approached the stone pillar. The moonlight above them shone brightly as they drew closer. The multifaceted serpent roared incessantly, though it dared not attack. Clearly, the moonlight still instilled in them an instinctive fear.
As they drew closer, the roars grew louder, until the evil spirit, seemingly unable to contain itself, launched itself directly towards them.
The snake's actions seemed to set off a chain reaction.
As the snake darted toward them, the evil spirits that had been surrounding them seemed to be tempted to act, too, and rushed towards them in a swarm.
"Courage in numbers?" Alka couldn't help but wonder.
It seemed wisdom wasn't enough, that they lacked reason, and were still mired in madness.
A music that seemed to bind the soul filled their ears.
Julia strummed her harp, while a phonograph floated beside her, playing pre-recorded music.
This was a tune Alka and the others had never heard before.
"Soul Binding Concerto."
The music spread outward, and all the evil spirits seemed to be carrying a thousand-pound weight, instantly slowing down to the crawl of a turtle.
It was as if time had slowed down everywhere except for them, which was incredibly interesting.
A red flame card appeared beside Alka, and he stretched out his hand and spun it.
A circle of flames ignited around them, then formed a circle, encircling them.
The flames burned fiercely, forming a wall of fire.
Among most elements, fire is one of the few that can effectively attack evil spirits.
It is also the most effective element against evil spirits among the common elements.
While not as powerful as holy light, it is far more effective than other elemental energies. Elementals like earth and water have no power against these evil spirits.
The moonlight above Sofia shone brighter, expanding in an instant.
Instantly, the evil spirits began to slowly scream and howl in pain, struggling as if in slow motion.
A faint green smoke rose from their bodies, as if on fire, but the pain was gradual, not sudden.
If Sofia had been willing to exert his full power, he could have wiped out the second and third stage evil spirits in an instant.
Bororo's ability could also cause severe damage to these evil spirits; it was lightning, after all.
However, the annihilation effect of the Winter Flower seemed to have little effect on these evil spirits.
The annihilation effect has immense destructive power against physical entities, almost reaching the level of complete armor penetration.
But it seems less effective against spiritual beings.
But possessing the element of lightning was enough. The damage it inflicted on the evil spirits might, in some cases, be even greater than Alka's fire element.
Lucelia's red energy alone could only inflict moderate damage on the evil spirits.
Everyone used their abilities interchangeably, without resorting to any particularly drastic measures. Instantly, the evil spirits regained consciousness.
Leaving behind a pile of ashes, the remaining evil spirits scattered.
Soon, they would gather around them again, gazing intently.
The giant snake that had rushed forward first was given special attention, reduced to a long, grayish-white streak of ash on the ground.
Watching the evil spirits slip back into various corners, Alka revealed a turquoise card beside him. It was a wind card, a card he rarely used.
With a gentle wave of his hand, a breeze swept across the earth, instantly collecting the grayish-white ash on the ground in a stream, which immediately filled the transparent glass bottle Alka had prepared long ago.
Soul dust is a rare material, so it could be considered a harvest.
Putting the bottle away, Alka came to the stone pillar.
He examined the pillar, touched it, and tapped it to feel the stone's texture.
"I've never seen such a stone before, and it's quite hard."
As Alka spoke, a brown earth tablet emerged.
He stretched out his finger and gently scratched the stone pillar, causing it to crack. Like mud bubbling, a crystal emerged from it and fell into Alka's hand.
It was a brown crystal, roughly the size of a palm, and he could clearly feel the unusual concentration of energy within it.
"This material is somewhat similar to the Earth Elemental Crystal Core you used to construct this Earth Card," Sofia said, looking at the crystal in Alka's palm.
After all, these elemental crystal cores are extremely rare, and Sofia is responsible for pre-ordering and purchasing them, so she has handled them before.
Alka nodded and looked at the crystal. Holding it against the sunlight, the light penetrated the crystal, emitting a brilliant brown light like gold.
"It's probably of the same type, but the one I have is more precious. However, the Earth Element within it is too concentrated, making it difficult to mobilize."
In terms of rarity and energy intensity, it was definitely higher than the Earth Core he had purchased previously.
But when it came to ease of use and shaping, his own was definitely easier.
Each had its own advantages. Looking at the crystal, Lucilia suddenly said, "Is there a possibility that this crystal, after returning, could give rise to new semi-elemental life?"
Hearing this, everyone turned to stare at Lucilia. Alka couldn't help but ponder, then exclaimed, "You know what? It's really possible."
He couldn't help but recall the elemental theories he'd studied before, which he was still studying.
Some of the information speculated on how elemental life forms converged. Most elemental crystals were said to be the cores left behind after the death of elemental life, or the products of some elemental life forms.
Some experiments also showed that elemental cores could indeed produce new elemental life forms.
Though they were quite different from semi-elemental creatures, perhaps they were similar.
Julia thought of the elemental environment of the Stone Forest and shook her head. "Even if it were possible to create new semi-elemental forms from this crystal, it would be difficult.
After all, the single element of power isn't pure, and the concentration of earth elements isn't high. It's extremely difficult to nurture new life in such an environment; even they themselves wouldn't survive."
This was indeed true.
This was the situation, evident from the cracks on the elemental creatures.
"What a pity! I don't know if this is good luck or bad luck for them."
Alka was referring to their previous understanding.
The Stonehoof Clan migrated here from the impending elemental interface.
If the truth were told, their migration here was a stroke of luck. It's a shame they migrated to a world where water flourished.
If this were the previous world, where multiple elements were balanced, then establishing a region where a single element was prevalent would be simple.
Unfortunately, the Boundless Sea is now an ocean world, inevitably dominated by the water element. Other elements are subject to varying degrees of suppression, making the emergence of a single element extremely difficult.
Unless it's water.
For these semi-elements, they require a sufficiently pure single element, not a high concentration.
The two appear similar, yet they are profoundly different.
Holding the crystal, Alka stored it within his space.
Then, everyone chatted as they continued their journey into the distance, heading towards their destination.
Before they reached their destination, there was another crystal they could obtain.
Under the moonlight, the surrounding evil spirits could only watch.
...
"Boom."
The sound of gravel tumbling violently could be heard in the distance.
Alka and his companions, who were still on their way, immediately stopped at the camp. Alka narrowed her eyes slightly and looked in the direction of the sound.
Another series of loud rumblings echoed, like a mountain collapsing, one wave after another.
Sofia shook her head and said, "No, the sound's coming from too far away."
Clearly, the distance was too great; her silver wave couldn't detect that far.
Beside Alka, the Earth Card was constantly floating. In an area like this, this card was most useful. So, Alka naturally kept it floating at all times.
Following the loud rumbling, Alka could clearly sense a violent fluctuation in the earth's elements. Someone was using similar elements to converge and attack.
"Be careful, this isn't a natural occurrence."
Then the fluctuations intensified.
"Let's go and take a look... This doesn't sound like something a demon could cause, nor could it be caused by an evil spirit."
The fluctuations in the earth's elements were too high. Either someone possessed a treasure capable of controlling the earth, or they were members of the Stonehoof Clan.